If Ravenpaw and Barley Joined ThunderClan
by carifoo2001
Summary: Unexpectedly, Tom's wife Sarah dies, so he decides to sell his property to the apartment builders that are about to cut down the forest. The two toms living in his barn are not on his mind as he leaves the farm. Ravenpaw and Barley barely escape getting killed by a wrecking ball. Their first decision after their home is destroyed... join ThunderClan. CloudClan Challenge.


Ravenpaw usually woke up naturally, feeling well and rested. But he awoke with a start that morning, to the loud sound of a monster. Its roar wasn't like the usual monster. It was much louder.

"Barley! Barley! Wake up!" He yowled. His friend opened his eyes and groggily looked up.

"What?" he asked. He jumped up in surprise when he heard the noise of the monster. The two scrambled out of the barn, just in time to see it hit by a large black ball. It caved in and fell to the ground.

There were many more monsters, slightly different from that one, and they were sitting dormant. Many trees in the area were gone.

"Our home…" Barley hissed. "Gone."

"What do we… What do we do?" Ravenpaw asked.

The two sat in shock for a while, until they saw a monster crawling toward them. They bolted into the forest, running as fast as they could. When they slowed, they glanced at each other.

"ThunderClan, then?" Barley said without much question in the tone.

"Yeah, I suppose."

It was close to sunset when the two cats arrived at their destination. They were greeted by Sandstorm, who was obviously guarding the camp.

"Hello, Ravenpaw. Barley. What are you doing here?"

The toms glanced at each other. "Our barn was destroyed by a strange-looking monster," Ravenpaw started. "There were many more strange monsters that seemed to want to take down the forest. They already destroyed a lot of trees."

Sandstorm's eyes widened. "We must see Firestar about this, now."

A long conversation between the two loners and the leader of ThunderClan began to draw to a close.

"Are you two planning on staying in ThunderClan permanently?" Firestar asked.

Ravenpaw glanced at Barley. The black and white tom shrugged, looking at the ground. "We don't have anywhere else to go, do we?" Ravenpaw nodded thoughtfully, looking right through Firestar's ginger pelt.

"Okay… if you don't mind, we'll formally let you into the Clan, and give you warrior names." The two loners nodded, following him out of his den.

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather here beneath the Highrock for a Clan meeting!" the leader yowled. The members of the Clan were waiting for this, when they saw Ravenpaw and Barley enter the camp. Most were already near the Highrock.

"Most of you here know of Ravenpaw and Barley. Their home was destroyed, and they seek to stay here indefinitely, as members of ThunderClan," he announced. There were a few grumbles in the crowd, but no protests.

"I, Firestar of ThunderClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down upon these cats. I trust that they understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend them to you as full members of ThunderClan in their turn.

"Ravenpaw, Barley, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

"I do," they replied simultaneously.

"Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior names. Ravenpaw, from this moment you will be known as Ravenbreeze. StarClan honors your courage and wit, and we welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan. Barley, from this moment you will be known as Swiftwhisker. StarClan honors your strength and wisdom, and we welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan."

"Ravenbreeze! Swiftwhisker! Ravenbreeze! Swiftwhisker!" There were more cats shouting Ravenbreeze's name than Swiftwhisker's, but it was hardly noticeable.

Ravenbreeze. He'd used to wonder what his warrior name would be, and later accepted that he'd never get one. But now… he had one. Given to him by his old friend.

"Ravenbreeze, Swiftwhisker," Greystripe called. "Border patrol."

* * *

They'd been travelling for a few days, now, but Ravenbreeze lost count of how many. By now, the four Clans had mingled a bit more, but he never left Swiftwhisker's side.

"I'm tired," Ravenpaw heard Birchkit complain for the umpteenth time. Ferncloud sighed.

"I know. We're all tired, Birchkit. We won't be stopping until sunset. I'm too tired to carry you on my back, again."

"I'll carry him," Ravenbreeze offered.

"Really?!" Birchkit mewled excitedly. He was Ravenbreeze's biggest fan, ever since he'd rejoined ThunderClan.

"Yes." He picked up the kit by his scruff and set him down on his back. The brown tabby tom immediately clung to his black fur, looking very happy.

Swiftwhisker purred. "He really likes you."

"I like you, too, Swiftwhisker!" he replied from Ravenbreeze's back.

Ravenbreeze yawned, and he leaned into Swiftwhisker. "I'm cold."

"Aren't we all," was the black and white tom's reply. "It's getting darker; we should be stopping soon. At least, I hope we will." He glanced at Ravenbreeze's back, and found that Birchkit had somehow fallen asleep on the former loner's back.

"You'd better be careful, or you'll wake Birchkit up," Swiftwhisker said quietly. "He must really have been tired."

"Swiftwhisker," Ravenbreeze mumbled. He almost didn't hear the black tom.

"Yes?" Ravenbreeze looked very nervous all of a sudden. He glanced up at Swiftwhisker. His amber eyes were full of complicated emotions.

"I'm in love with you," he whispered.

Swiftwhisker purred. "I know."

"What?"

"I thought you knew that I know." Swiftwhisker frowned. "Don't you know that I love you, too?"

Ravenbreeze's eyes widened. "Uh, no, I didn't know that."

Swiftwhisker purred again. "Well, I'm glad we've got this cleared up, now. Ha, imagine your reaction if I had introduced you to someone as my mate. Everyone in ThunderClan already thought we were mates. ...Are you okay?"

Ravenbreeze started. "Uh, yeah, I'm fine. Great. Fantastic."

"Hey! Look's like we're stopping!" Swiftwhisker suddenly said.

At those words, Ravenbreeze almost fell over, but then he remembered the sleeping kit on his back and slowly settled to the ground, almost instantly falling asleep. In the last few moments of consciousness, he felt Swiftwhisker curl up beside him.


End file.
